


The Tower of Terror

by PrairieFarmGirl



Category: Outlander (TV), Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Ghosts, Halloween, Haunted Houses, NSFW, Spooky, not too scary though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:53:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27309502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrairieFarmGirl/pseuds/PrairieFarmGirl
Summary: In this story, Geillis convinces Joe and Claire to go to the local haunted house called The Tower of Terror with her.   Claire doesn’t really want to go (and much like me) only goes so she isn’t missing out on the fun.  But she and a stranger (oh for crap’s sake...you know who the stranger is) get way more than they bargain for.
Relationships: Claire Beauchamp/Jamie Fraser
Comments: 9
Kudos: 69





	The Tower of Terror

**Author's Note:**

> Halloween wouldn’t be Halloween without a good spooky story, so here’s my annual version of Jamie and Claire on Halloween. 
> 
> I don’t know about other places, but here in the US, haunted houses are highly popular around this time of year. They are usually staged by acting groups or even as fundraisers for organizations. The level of “scary” varies widely. In my particular area, old vacant brick buildings in the river bottoms are often converted to haunted houses (which is what I envision in this story). Sometimes an old vacant home works just as well. 
> 
> A wee little section toward the end is NSFW. If that’s not your thing (I marked it), just skip over it and read the last section.
> 
> So, get your bevvie of choice, steal some of your kid’s candy, and put on some spooky Halloween music on Spotify (I wrote this right along with the music...some of the music is actually written into the story). Enjoy and have a happy and safe Halloween, y’all!

Claire, Geillis and Joe stood in line outside The Tower of Terror, the local haunted house that drew a large crowd each October. It was thundering in the distance and Claire worried that her hair would be a destroyed mess if it began raining, given that none of them came equipped with an umbrella.

Geillis has managed to finagle the scheduling at the hospital so that they could all have the evening off on Halloween night. She had begged them to go with her to The Tower of Terror in the old district near the river. It was already spooky down there at night, so the setting was nearly perfect.

They had just visited the local pub, where they got their fill of liquid courage and then gave in to Geillis’ pleas. When they arrived, they saw the long line waiting at the entrance.

“Are you sure you want to wait in line this long? It looks like it might rain.” Claire was truly hoping to get out of going, but didn’t want to appear scared. Joe and Geillis would tease her mercilessly for that.

“I’m not afraid of a wee bit o’ rain. Are ye?” Geillis cackled, already honing in on Claire’s fears.

“No. Just that...well, you know how my hair gets all frazzled in the rain.”

Joe chuckled at that, “Oh we know. Surrrrreeee. That definitely IS scary!”

Claire reached over the seat and smacked Joe on the shoulder. “You just shut up!”

Joe snorted with hilarity and rolled away from Claire’s second strike.

“Come on! Let’s go before a bus load drives in and makes the line longer!” Geillis got out of the car, followed by Joe. Claire followed more slowly. Geillis locked the doors with her car fob before Claire could chicken out.

Shit. Now she had no choice but to follow. 

**********

As they were met at the door, a gangly teenage boy dressed as a zombie (with less than stellar makeup skills) asked for their tickets. Geillis handed him the three tickets and they were motioned in. “Mind the arrows. They will guide ye through,” he said in a thoroughly bored voice. 

“Minding the arrows, Hyacinth!” Joe never failed to quip when someone mentioned “Mind the…”, mimicking Richard Bucket from ‘Keeping Up Appearances’. Being an American, he had a strange liking for quirky, old Brit-coms. Being slightly tipsy only made his joking worse. Geillis smirked and rolled her eyes, then pulled him along with her as Claire clung to the back of Joe’s jacket.

The typical spooky music played in the background, with dimly lit halls guiding their path. They crept along, clinging to one another until they reached their first room. Scanning warily around, they entered slowly. The scene was set up like an ancient funeral parlor. The path led you to the front of the room, where a body lay in repose. They walked to the coffin and approached it cautiously. They hesitated slightly in leaning over the coffin to view the body, aware that the “dead body” could rise at any moment. 

Joe peered closely at the body, seemingly unafraid, as Claire and Geillis hovered closely behind him. The male body in the coffin was designed to look like a vampire at rest. He wore heavy eye makeup, fangs, and of course, a trail of blood from his lips.

Joe leaned closer to the vampire and whispered, “Dude, your mascara’s running.”

The vampire’s lips smirked, then he opened his eyes and hooted with laughter. “Fuck off ye wanker! Dinnae make me laugh!” 

Laughing lightheartedly, they moved on to the next room. The music suddenly became a macabre piano tune. A zombie with a red light guided them to a lift. “Next floor...if ye dare.”

Entering the lift, they turned to face the front and were moved to the second floor. Suddenly, the lift shuddered to a halt and the lights blinked several times. Then darkness. 

Claire gasped as something brushed her leg. “SHIT!” Followed closely with Joe and Geillis simultaneously shouting, “WHAT?!” Claire jumped and moved closer to whoever she could grope for first in the darkness. 

“Hey! That was my boob ye just groped there. Ye coulda bought me supper first, ye ken?”

“Geillis, someone is in here with us! It touched my leg!”

Abruptly, a black light came on lighting the interior of the lift eerily. They looked as one at the mirror on the front of the lift, and were startled to see a female apparition behind them, glowing white, with long scraggly gray hair wearing a ripped white dress. She looked at them, eyes black as night, and screamed.

The trio screamed in return and the lift doors opened, as if on cue. They simultaneously fought for the exit as the ghostly apparition tried to follow them out. 

Hearts pounding, they scurried to a safe distance where they clung together. Joe whispered, “What the fuck was that and how did it get inside with us?”

“I dinnae ken, but I’m takin’ the stairs next time! Did ye piss yerself, Claire?” 

“No I didn’t!” Claire might have lied just a wee bit there, she thought. 

They followed the path lit by a hazy purple light to a scene that resembled an old psych ward at a hospital. Staged scenes showed patients in various scenarios meant to spook viewers. A patient in a straight jacket roaming the hall. A janitor with a ghostly appearance mopping up a pool of blood. Nothing too terrible, given that everyone was actively playing a part and not tormenting the customers. As they exited the scene, they passed by a barred off section leading to the corridor. As Geillis passed, she yelped.

“Christ! Someone grabbed my ankle!” They all hugged the solid wall closer as they crept by the bars. 

Inching by, clinging together, suddenly a growling voice rattled through the bars. “How much for the little girl?”

They all jumped and yelled in tandem. 

Then louder, “Give me the little girl!” A gnarled hand shot out of the bars and reached wildly for Claire. They were plastered up against the wall in terror as the hands tried in vain to reach Claire. What they failed to see was the creature inching up behind them on the path.

It crept up behind the trio and whispered, “Hallooooo little girl!”

Claire leapt nearly a mile into the air and screamed, running blindly ahead into the next room. The music changed to a spooky soprano humming a tune. The room was filled with heavy fog and was surrounded by mirrors. People were frantically searching for the exit that was cleverly hidden in the corner. Groups either huddled together or had become separated in the search for the camouflaged door. Claire could hear Geillis and Joe calling to her, but she couldn’t seem to reach them in the confusion of the many images she saw. The fog hindered her in keeping them within her sights. 

Then the lights went out. Thunder rumbled overhead. Whether it was real or sound effects, she couldn’t guess. A hand touched her back and she let out a startled yelp. 

“Geillis? Joe!”

“Nae. I’m Jamie. Are ye separated from yer group, too?”

“Yes! I’m Claire.” She shook his hand. An odd place to shake hands, but it seemed like the thing to do. “Gah!!! I knew I should’ve stayed home.”

“I ken. I cannae find the lads I was wi’ either. They took off runnin’ after they were spooked by the bars.”

“Same!”

“Ye can walk wi’ me, if ye dinnae mind it. We can keep each other company until we find our groups.”

Claire only hesitated for a second. “Al...Alright. Do you know where the exit is?”

“Nae, but I think if we follow the wall and drag a hand along the mirror, we might find the door easier than trying to search for it with our eyes.” 

Nodding, and then feeling foolish because he couldn’t see her doing that in the dark, she said, “You're right. You lead the way.”

He took her by the hand and pulled her close to him. She was suddenly overwhelmed in the dark by her other senses. The warmth that emanated off him and warmed her cold hand. The safety that she felt. The smell of his musky cologne (God, he smelled good!). 

He pulled her along, occasionally colliding with others searching for the same exit. 

The dim light stuttered back to life and Claire got her first good look at her rescuer. He was tall and muscular. He wore dark jeans, a black leather jacket, and a tight fitting white tee-shirt that gleamed in the purple light. She couldn’t make out the color of his hair, but it was long and curly, framing his face to perfection. 

He looked back at her and stopped in his tracks. He seemed to be taking her in as well, an almost stunned look on his face. 

Finally he found his voice, huskier than it was before. “Suddenly, I dinnae really care if I find the lads now.”

Claire couldn’t help but agree with him. He was beautiful. 

He blinked, seeming to come back to the here and now and turned to pull her along the mirrored wall again. She hugged his arm to her now. Strangers or no...terror did that to you. 

Suddenly, Jamie exclaimed, “Finally!” and led her through a very cleverly hidden door in the corner. It was dark in the passageway, though. Not the usual purple-hued illumination. They wandered through a corridor, scattered with cobwebs and the detritus of an old building long in disuse. In the distance, they heard heavy steps materialize as if out of nowhere. They could hear the distant screams from customers. They traveled in the direction of the voices.

Jamie whispered, “Claire, I think we may have taken a wrong turn. I dinnae think this is part of the haunted house.”

Claire clung closer to Jamie then. “Are you sure?” 

“Aye.”

Turning back, they tried to retrace their steps back to the mirrored room. Trying to make conversation to hide his nervousness, Jamie said, “Do ye ken that this used to be a bordello? Apparently, this was a sort of rough neighborhood, given the nearness tae the river. They say the building is actually haunted by prostitutes who died horrible deaths at the hands of their customers.”

“Jamie?” Claire pulled him to a stop.

“Aye?”

“Was that supposed to make me feel better? Because if it was, it didn’t work!”

Jamie gave what sounded like an embarrassed laugh, “Ah...yeah. I suppose yer right. I didnae think. Sorry.”

“It’s alright. Let’s just concentrate on getting back to civilization.”

Jamie took her hand and led her behind him again, trying to lead in the direction of the voices they heard in the distance. They seemed to walk for ages, turning this way and that. Searching for the familiar, hearing the calls of customers in the distance but not quite able to find them.

Suddenly, Jamie pulled up short with a yelp and Claire ran into him, muttering an “oomph”. 

“Er, Claire, did ye just…”

Claire whispered, hands on his back, “What?”

“Did ye just grab my arse?”

Claire sputtered, then laughed, “Wot?! Of course I didn’t!” Not that she wouldn’t have liked to have a go at that, but now just didn’t seem the appropriate time or place.

“Well, something did. I distinctly felt a hand on my arse!”

“I promise you, I didn’t do any such thing, Jamie.” 

They stood in silence for a while contemplating that. As they stood, the air seemed colder around them. They heard footsteps again, nearer this time. Claire grabbed for Jamie’s biceps and he held her tightly to him. 

“FUCK!” Jamie jumped. 

Claire gasped at the fear lacing his voice, squeezing his arms tighter. Her heart beat rapidly in time with her breathing. 

She was afraid to ask, but she did.

“Claire, I swear to ye, a hand is on. my. cock.”

“Now?!” 

“Aye,” he whispered, terror filling his voice. 

“Jamie, my hands are on your arms.” She squeezed, proving their placement.

“I ken.” She heard him swallow. 

Suddenly, Claire was pushed backwards violently by icy hands. She screamed in terror as Jamie yelled her name.

She stood back up after getting her breath back and ran back to where Jamie was rooted. She grabbed him by the hand and ran. She didn’t know where. She just knew she had to run.

A loud female cackle followed them out of the room. Stopping to look, they saw a ghostly apparition standing there in a torn white shift, scraggly hair slowly flowing about her as she raised a hand toward them. 

In hindsight, they shouldn’t have stopped to look.

**********

Finally finding their way back to the main path of the haunted house, they practically ran toward the exit. Standing out in the almost deserted parking lot, they both looked at each other and said simultaneously, “What the fuck was that?!” 

As if on cue, both of their mobiles dinged at once as several texts popped up on their phones as if their service had just been restored. They reached for their phones. 

> _Geillis: Where r u?_
> 
> _Joe: Hey! Where’d you go? G is with me. Call!_
> 
> _Geillis: Claire? Text us. We’re at the exit._
> 
> _Geillis: Seriously. Where the fuck are you at?_
> 
> _Joe: Claire, this isn’t funny anymore. Where are you?_

That was an hour and a half ago. 

Then the last text:

> _Geillis: Joe and I are leaving. Call me! You have until 2am or I’m calling the coppers._

Claire looked at the time. It was 1:45am.

Jamie asked as he was answering several texts from his own group, “Did ye find your friends, then?”

“Yes. They apparently left an hour and a half ago. I suppose I’ll just try to ring an Uber.”

“Nae ye willna. My car is here. I can drive ye home.”

“Well, I suppose...if it isn’t too much trouble.”

“None at all.”

“I just need to call my friend and let her know I’m alright. She’s threatening to call the police.”

Claire dialed Geillis. It barely rang once.

“Where the actual fuck have ye been?! Are ye alright?!”

Claire told the story, leaving out the bits about what might have been groping Jamie.

“Do ye need me to come get ye? The haunted house closes at 2am. I dinnae think it’s safe for ye to be there at night alone.”

“No, Jamie will see me home.”

A pause on the line. Then, “Weel, then! I see how it is,” Geillis chortled. “Have fun wi’ yer Jamie, then. And ye ken, I’ll be requirin’ details in the morning, no?”

“Goodbye, Geillis!”

Claire hung up. 

“Weel, I’m parked over this way,” Jamie motioned to the lone car sitting to the side of the car park. He took her hand as if it was already a natural thing to do. 

Claire leaned against the door of his car and asked, “Do you think that was real in there?”

“I dinnae ken. I just know what I felt. Icy hands on me, gropin’ at me. Ye didnae feel anything?”

“No, just the cold air, when it had been warm. And what we both saw with our own eyes.”

They stood in silence for a while, contemplating...trying to find a scientific answer, anything resembling a reasonable answer, but not coming up with anything. 

Claire shivered and rubbed the gooseflesh that had risen on her arms. “Are ye cold, then?”

“A bit. I just need to...I dunno...catch my breath, I suppose.”

Jamie took her in his arms and pulled her close to him. He was deliciously warm like a furnace. She snuggled in closer, liking the feeling of safety that enveloped her. She felt him nuzzle her hair and breathe deeply near her ear. Another shiver ran down her spine, this time from another source entirely. She was dangerously close to turning her head and leaning toward him when he leaned back and pulled a flask out of his pocket.

“Here. It’s whisky. This might help calm yer nerves a wee bit.” He offered it to her and she gratefully accepted it. She took several sips before handing it back to him. He guzzled a large drink and returned it to her for more. She drained the remaining bit and handed it back. 

“Better now?”

“A bit, thank you.” 

The wind picked up and blew a thick curl onto Claire’s face. Jamie reached up and brushed it gently away with a finger that trailed down her neck, stroking her exposed collar bone. The whisky heated her blood, firing her senses. The finger slowly made its way up to her cheek and across to her lips. Feeling bold, she touched his finger with the tip of her tongue. 

He whispered, “May I?” as he stroked her lip.

Claire nodded slowly, looking him in the eye. His eyes were clear blue. She hadn’t noticed that before. 

His warm hand slid to her cheek, where the other hand joined it to tip her head back. His whisky breath nearly intoxicated her as his harsh breathing assaulted her senses before finally claiming her mouth.

It started gently but it didn’t take long to become heated, with hands, lips and tongues roaming, testing, searching. Their bodies were flush against each other, hips grinding together seeking relief from the growing ache. 

As their lust for each other grew, they were dimly aware that the car park had gotten darker. Thunder rumbled in the distance and they reluctantly drew apart. 

“What happened to the street lights?”

“I dinnae…,” Jamie started, but halted, his eyes opening wide. 

Claire turned to look where he was staring.

In a second story window stood the female apparition, glowing white in the dark. They could clearly hear the cackling as if she stood right next to them.

**********

Jamie stood with Claire on her doorstep. Both were still visibly shaken and had sped all the way to Claire’s house escaping the terror that filled them. 

“Are ye alright?”

“I...I…,” Claire hesitated, then tried again. “Jamie, I don’t want to be alone. Please.”

He nodded, understanding. 

**********{this is the nsfw bit}

Their fearful clinging together under the blankets in Claire’s bedroom soon gave way to something more sensual, recalling their heated kisses in the car park. Clothes were scattered to the floor as they struggled to get closer to each other. Their hands frantically searched each other, aching to wash away the fear and replace it with the familiar. Anything that made them feel real again. 

Jamie lurched over Claire, panting out, “Is this okay?”

Claire arched up against him, “Yessss.” 

He reached for his pants pocket and removed a condom. Ripping the package with his teeth, he handed it to Claire. She touched him for the first time as she rolled the condom into place. She heard his sharp intake of breath as she slid her hand up and down his hardened length. He moaned, then reached between them, brushing her hand away.

“Claire, I dinnae think I can be gentle wi’ ye!”

“Then don’t.”

Jamie reared back and plunged inside her. Both backs simultaneously arched, necks bared, as they cried out in ecstasy. He held her tightly to him as he fought for control. She marveled at the way his muscles strained as he held back the urge to finish too quickly. Needing more, she arched her pelvis and squeezed her inner muscles, grasping him until he gasped out her name.

In a flurry of movement, he brought her legs onto his shoulders as he thrust into her hard, their skin slapping together loudly. Jamie reached down and thumbed Claire above where they were joined, drawing a loud shriek from her as she arched into him. He was already close, but the sounds that came from her sent him hurtling over the edge. Claire watched in awe as his teeth were bared and a deep growl emitted from his throat. She thrust up against him once more and joined him as she cried out, heat flowing through her veins.

**********

They didn’t sleep much that night, but drowsed off and on, grounding each other back to earth. They felt safe, entwined together as one.

Right before dawn, Jamie whispered her name.

“Hmmm?”

“Please tell me that’s yer hand on my arse.”

She squeezed.

“Oh aye,” she mimicked his Scottish accent terribly, “Don’t you worry. I have it.”

**Author's Note:**

> A few of these were my actual experiences. The running mascara scene was my college roommate’s boyfriend’s brilliant remark. As was the vampire’s reaction...which was hilarious. 
> 
> I got to participate in a haunted house one year. My job (behind bars) was to brush people’s feet, then ask, “How much for the little girl?”. I usually only did that to people I knew. You’d be surprised at how many boyfriends and husbands said, “Oh, she’s free. Enjoy!” and then push their gal at me and run away. I never scared the little ones, though. I had so much fun doing that and came home hoarse every single night (I had to do a lot of screaming). 
> 
> But much like Claire, I *hate* being scared.


End file.
